28 June 2003

It is sweltering hot. You switch on the fan and try to relax. But your relaxation snaps in five minutes. Because, the fan begins to slow down and comes to a grinding halt.

Hmm.. no power:-( You grab the nearest paper, cloth, handkerchief, saree pallu – anything that is in the nearest vicinity. Pathetic. Nothing can compensate the whirring fan, you moan, groan and wait patiently (?) for the power to be restored.

But wait a second, why not try the brand new “panai oulai visiri” ( Fan made of Palm leaf) that you bought on a whim of fancy? Hold your hand on the looong handle and just gently rotate the Palm leaf fan… Ah… now it is better…

I tell you, there is nothing, nothing like “panai oulai visiri” on a hot summer “powerless” day /night. In fact the fan’s ergonomically designed features leave me astounded.

The fan size is just correct, good to sweep enough air around you for a cool radius of 1 meter. ( Incidentally you do a social service by lending air to your neighbour within that 1 meter radius :-)) The handle is so long and slender – easy to hold and rotate. So much so, that you don’t need to put any great effort to make heavy strokes. The long handle ensures that you get sufficient breeze with just a gentle swipe of your palm back and forth.

And what is more, it is so eco friendly – the trendiest thing today. In fact I would suggest that we start distributing this “panai oulai visiri” along with “thamboolam”
(return gift) in social functions. – if power happens to fail during the function, voila, you have your mobile fan :-)